Jonathan Randall said:
I have personally noticed that attitudes towards the right to bear arms are changing with more people (on average) accepting widescale firearm ownership and CCW permits. Of course there are great exceptions to this (much of New York), but overall, for a variety of reasons including the collapse of order following Katrina, many are now defending the right to bear arms who were previously anti-gun. I am thinking particularly of the Liberal side where one site that I frequent now has militant gun rights defenders. Thoughts? Observations?
There are several items here that, I believe, require consideration.
First, your sample size. What you have personally observed is not an appropriate sample to use as the basis for a discussion about societal attitude changes.
If you have ever purchased a new automobile, you begin to notice how many other people are driving the make and model as you have selected. Before your purchase, you did not tend to notice those vehicles. Does that mean, those vehicles were not on the road, prior to your purchase decision?
Second, to describe surpise that a 'Liberal' site would have 'militant gun right defenders' speaks to prejudices and biases that can quite possibly be false. I am a self-described liberal. Several of the threads on this board call out on threats to the Bill of Rights. As the Second Amendment is an important part of that document, I would defend the right of the citizenry to keep and bear arms. There is nothing in the defense of the Second Amendment that is opposition to the Liberal philosophy (if such a thing can be defined).
Now, I will state that my support for the Second Amendment, and rights of the citizenry to keep and bear arms, is not immune from legislative effect; meaning the citizenry, through their legislatures can prescribe controls on who can access firearms, and how many firearms they can possess, and how they can be carried.
